I’d never tried tempeh before, so I bought a package and made a tempeh stir fry. Tempeh is a fermented soy bean cake that has a nutty flavor. This recipe turned out ok, but I think the next time I use tempeh, it will be in something different (like a Tempeh Reuben!).
Anyway, here’s the recipe:
Orange Tempeh Stirfry
- Olive oil or cooking spray
- 1 small onion, peeled, halved, and sliced into half-moons
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 8-10 baby carrots, chopped
- 8-10 button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 8 ounces tempeh
- ~1/4 cup Iron Chef Orange Glaze with Ginger
- ~1/8 cup soy sauce
- Barley, rice, soba noodles, rice noodles, etc…to serve tempeh stir fry over
In a medium saucepan, bring about 4 cups of water to a boil. Carefully drop in the tempeh block and let it boil for about 20 minutes. This will remove some of the “bitterness” that can be associated with tempeh.
While the tempeh is boiling, heat oil or cooking spray in a large shallow pot or pan. I like to use a wide, shallow, straight-sided pan. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic and saute until the veggies have begun to soften.
When the tempeh is done boiling, remove it to a cutting board and cut it into a bite-sized dice. Add the tempeh pieces to the veggies and continue to saute, stirring frequently to make sure all sides of the tempeh are browning. When the veggies have softened to your liking (I like mine to still be a bit crispy) and the tempeh is browned and heated, throw in the mushrooms, orange sauce, and soy sauce. Continue to cook everything, stirring frequently, until heated through. The orange sauce will glaze the veggies and tempeh nicely and your kitchen will smell good (as long as you like ginger!).
When everything is hot and noms looking, serve up the dish over your preferred grain/rice/pasta. I had made a big batch of barley that day, so that’s what we had with ours.
Some notes:
I think this recipe would be better if A) the tempeh were diced smaller than what I did or B) I used tofu instead. I do love sticky orange tofu dishes! Also, this recipe is nice because, like any stir fry, you can use any vegetables (and even some fruits) you have in your fridge, freezer, or pantry. I stuck with the basics this time around, but snow peas, green beans, bok choy, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, pineapple…you name it, it would probably be good in there. One last thing, I add soy sauce to this recipe because the orange-ginger glaze is a little too gingery for my taste. I like ginger, but I think the soy adds a nice balance.
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